Descending
by InvaderProfessorMembrane
Summary: Professor Membrane has never believed in the supernatural, but all changes when a strange entity starts wreaking havoc on his perfect world. Now, he must figure out how to stop it by himself, forcing him to chose between love and hate, good and bad, and eventually life and death.
1. Chapter 1

**Yoooooo I'm so sorry I haven't posted a story on here in literally months. I've been busy with school, which started up in September. Anyway, I know I start a lot of things and don't finish them, and for this story I'll try to update it at least once a week. I think I can do this. **

**Ya know, it's sorta cute that you guys still read my old stuff. Hah. Cringeworthy. **

**Anyway. **

**Hope you guys enjoy this.**

A clearing was seen at the end of a thick, foreign forest.

Professor Membrane, as a scientist, was consumed by curiosity and ran towards it. He felt the night air on his skin, which would usually be thrilling and soothing at the same time, but something was terribly wrong with it. It was… too still. Where were the nighttime breezes that made his long coat flap as he ran? Where was the barking of foxes? The hooting of owls?

Instead, there was nothing, as if this were a cold vacuum instead of a forest.

Still, Professor Membrane ran towards the clearing.

Once he got there, he looked around. Something compelled him to explore, but still, a vibe radiated from this strange, vacant area. It was most definitely one of the most unpleasant vibes he had ever experienced. He hated it. Still, he had to keep walking, or else something even worse would happen. He just knew it. It was sickening.

Speeding his jog up to a running speed, he made his way through the treeless zone… before tripping over a large rock.

Professor Membrane yelped in agony. The rock was extremely hard, and quite large as well. Seriously, how'd he miss it? He grabbed his shin, which was bleeding profusely through the torn fabric of his pants leg.

Growling in frustration, the disgruntled professor hoisted himself up.

It was hard, though. He'd really busted up his leg. Warm blood dripped from the wound, streaming down his leg. Every step was agony, but he had to keep walking. There was something important he had to see.

Finally, after what seemed like at least an hour of walking, Professor Membrane squinted at something in the distance. Some kind of… cage or something? He approached it, and recoiled when he got close enough to discover it was something fermenting in a liquid of some kind. The creature was ugly— it looked like some kind of grey, wrinkly embryo. After a while, Professor Membrane gasped when it shifted slightly. It was… alive.

Mustering up courage, Professor Membrane pressed his hand up to the cold glass.

The creature's eyes snapped open. They were completely black in color, like a rodent's. It let out the most ear-piercing screech the professor had ever heard. It swam at his hand with rapid speed, went through the glass effortlessly, and it went up his arm.

A terrible pain wracked not only his arm but his entire body. The professor screamed and fell to the floor, writhing.

"_Please_…"

Professor Membrane woke with a start. The pain he had felt in his dream wasn't completely gone, but at least it was bearable. Groaning, he turned over and looked at the time. It was six in the morning; time for him to get to work.

He took a shower, got dressed,

And scurried out the door.

All day, something distracted him. The dream he had… it was just so _bizarre_. Never in his life had he had such a dream. Scientists were still not sure of why dreams happened, and he supposed this was evident. After all, his dream was beyond surreal. The part where the creature had… crawled up his arm or whatever the heck it did. That part was strange. Creepy almost.

Anyway.

He had to focus on what was important, and that was his work. He was handling some vials of actual small pox— a deadly disease that thankfully was wiped from existence many years ago thanks to the great medical advances of the professor's time. He did not want to be the person responsible for bringing back the dead virus.

Just as he was about to touch it, his hand jerked away, and pain, similar to the one that he had experienced in his dream, shot through it. He yelped, cradling his throbbing arm close to his chest. This was odd, to say the least. Could he have somehow damaged a nerve during his dream?

He tried again. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the vial again. The same thing happened, except this time, the pain was worse. He growled. He tried again, and the same thing happened, this time with even worse pain. Again. Again. AGAIN! AGH! AGAIN! He frowned. Perhaps what he had was akin to alien hand syndrome, where someone's hand developed a "mind of its own". This was odd, though. He'd been perfectly fine his whole life. He hadn't done anything to damage his nerves or anything. He just didn't understand. He took a deep breath.

One more time.

Professor Membrane reached for the vile.

This time, his hand flew back, throwing him to the ground with its momentum. He laid there as his whole body writhed, like in his dream. Pain shot through him. It was like someone was riding through him and whipping every pain receptor they could find as hard as they could.

The pain became too much for him, and he passed out.

"Dad," called a voice. Professor Membrane rubbed his eyes. His right arm… the one that was giving him trouble. He… could he move it?

Barely.

"Daaaaad!" the voice came again.

Professor Membrane tried moving the arm again. With a lot of effort, he could move his fingers, but definitely not easily.

"DAD!"

"What?" Professor Membrane answered in a somewhat irritated tone. He opened his eyes to see his son about three inches from his face. Gasping, he sat up quickly, knocking heads with his son. Professor Membrane grimaced.

"Oww…" Dib groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

Professor Membrane was about to question Dib until he discovered where he actually was: the hospital. "When did I get here?" Professor Membrane asked, looking around.

"Uhhh… they brought you here about ten minutes ago," Dib mused. "Apparently you passed out. You had a seizure or something. I don't know the full story. Why _are_ you here, Dad?"

Professor Membrane shook his head. "I fainted, I guess. All I remember is being in a lot of pain. Where's your sister?" Professor Membrane looked around until he found Gaz standing in the corner. "Gaz?" Professor Membrane said.

Gaz's eyes widened. "Dad, I don't know what's going on with you," Gaz said. "But whatever it is, it's not good. I don't want… I don't want any part in it."

Professor Membrane stared at his daughter with a confused expression. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Gaz turned to Dib. "Can't you feel it? Dad just _radiates_ negative energy. As soon as I walked in here, I felt like I needed to get outta here… I still do. I don't know what you are, 'Dad'; but you're definitely not completely you."

Professor Membrane stared at his daughter like she had completely lost her mind. "What do you mean? I just fainted. That's all. I—"

Before he could say another word, Gaz was out the door, glancing over her shoulder only briefly.

"Whoa…" Dib said. "What on earth is _she_ going on about?"

Professor Membrane shrugged. "Apparently I emit negative energy or something. I don't even know." Professor Membrane rolled his eyes. He grew silent as a doctor walked in.

"Well, Professor," the doctor said. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you. We've checked all vitals, preformed tons of tests, done scans— everything. We can assure you there is nothing wrong with you."

Professor Membrane looked at the doctor, confused. "If that's the case, then… what's causing me to behave in such an odd way? What caused this seizure-like episode today?"

The doctor simply shrugged. "That's a mystery," she said. "If anything else happens, please inform us immediately."

Professor Membrane got the okay to leave. Although he trusted the doctor, he couldn't shake this feeling that had settled deep in his stomach.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Professor Membrane stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at his weary reflection in the mirror.

He rubbed his face with his left hand, frowning. Until he trained himself to become left-handed, there wasn't much he could do about shaving. Well, at least there was no _safe_ thing he could do about it. Not that it really mattered anyway; he always wore a coat with a large collar that covered his face. That should buy him some time until he could safely shave again.

He heaved a sigh. What was going on? He looked at his right arm. Ever since that strange dream, he could only do very, very limited things with it. Heck, he could hardly even move it. If he exerted a great amount of effort, he could move his fingers, but forget about bending it or lifting it off a table.

Of course, Professor Membrane had asked several doctors about his arm. The doctors all told him the same thing; they simply didn't know. There was nothing wrong with him… at least _medically_ wrong with him. He had had so many tests preformed on him, and yet none of them came back with any useful information. The painful seizure-like occurrences continued, but he stopped going to the hospital because he didn't want to become some kind of medical mystery.

Eventually, his condition for so bad that he had to quit work.

Professor Membrane laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his left hand resting on his stomach and the right one set limply next to him. Of course, headlines with giant headlines exclaiming that "The World-Renowned Professor Membrane Quit His Job". There was no escaping the constant pain he was in, both emotional and physical. He couldn't walk down the stairs without his one of his kid's supervision, because if he fell he would be stranded there. His life was a montage of gambling with his health, it seemed.

A lot of things were going on, and the professor was tired. He laid still, closing his eyes and planning just to rest them. He fell asleep, though, as one often does when they promise themselves they are only going to rest their eyes.

Once asleep, Professor Membrane found himself in a scotching desert. It was so dry and hot that the cacti, usually green and healthy, we're all dead and wilting. The sun beat down on his back with a vengeance. Sweat poured down his face.

He felt as if he had some kind of… duty or something. Why was he just standing out in the middle of the desert, anyway? There had to be a reason. There was always a reason for everything.

Except… never mind.

Professor Membrane continued on.

After a bit of traveling, he came across— oh no. OH NO. Flashbacks of that frightful night came rushing back, flooding Professor Membrane's head with horrible memories. Memories of pain. Of fear. Of LIFE RUINING OCCURRENCES THAT MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR JOB—

He reached over with his left hand and pressed it on the glass. What was this? WHAT WAS THIS? He didn't do this. His hand did it on its own. Or… whatever was behind the glass compelled him to do it. He tried to pull his hand away, but on closer inspection it looked like his skin was fused with the glass— was one with the glass. He was pulled into the chamber. Despite being full of liquid, it was no less hot or dry in the chamber, and the sun still seemed to beat down on him.

Professor Membrane was too distracted by everything that was going on to notice that the creature in the same confined space as him was staring right at him, with its ugly, sickening eyes. It titled it's head, seemingly observing him. A retractable arm extended from the creature's back, and it pulled out a scanning device. It made a screeching noise that was too much for the professor to handle, and while he attempted to cover his ears, it swam into his chest and the professor felt pure pain running through his veins and—

And that's how he woke up.

**Ahhh sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I was short on ideas for this one. I'll try to make chapter 3 juicier, if that's a good word to use!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind reviews! 3 **

Professor Membrane woke up that morning with a groan. His whole body throbbed and with each heartbeat pain shot through him.

_What on EARTH was going on?_

Clenching his jaw, he forced himself out of bed reluctantly. As soon as his feet hit the floor, pain shot up through his legs and wracked his entire body. The professor let out a small silent scream.

He took one step… then another… then another…

_Agony_.

He just… had to get to the medicine cabinet… then he could—

"Dad, are you okay?" Dib asked with concern.

Professor Membrane nodded. "Of course, son. I just… I'm in pain, but… I'm fine." The last thing he needed was to get his two children involved with… whatever was going on. This was a war he could fight by himself.

"Are you sure?" Dib asked skeptically.

Professor Membrane nodded again. "Yes, I'm certain…" He grit his teeth and yelped, sliding down the wall with his back against it.

"Alright, that's it!" Dib said, shaking his head and grabbing the phone. "I'm calling nine-one-one."

"Don't!" The professor said, standing up with a lot of effort and grabbing the phone out of his son's hand. The last thing he needed was to become some sort of medical mystery. He knew that there was such thing as doctor-patient confidentiality, but still. These things got out, and with how famous he was, everyone would know within a week. He sat down again. "Just hand me the ibuprofen."

Dib nodded, handing his agonized father the pill bottle. Professor Membrane quickly opened it, grabbed a pill, and swallowed it whole.

Dib chuckled. "You know I could've brought you a glass of water or something…" Dib said. His light laughter could not mask the deep worry in his voice, though.

"I know," Professor Membrane said. "But the sooner I take it, the sooner it'll kick in." He hadn't moved from his spot on the floor.

"Maybe you should, uh, go back to bed or something," Dib said.

Professor Membrane shook his head. "No. I don't want to be restrained by this disability. I want to combat it…" Again, he pushed himself back up. At least the painkillers were starting to help.

"Dad, I really don't think this is a good idea," Dib started to say. He got cut off by his father waving him off and walking towards the stairs.

_The stairs. Oh no!_

Professor Membrane looked down at them. How would he get down them? He didn't exactly have his full mobility at the moment with this pain consistently going through his body.

He grabbed the railing, leaning on it with almost all of his weight. One step down… then the other… then the other… huh. So far so good, actually. It wasn't until he reached the fifth step that his grip on the bar slipped and he tumbled down the stairs violently. Every bump, every slam of his body against the solid surface, sent ripples of pain through his whole body.

His head hit the corner of one of the cold, unmerciful steps, and he was knocked out.

Professor Membrane woke up in this room. Well, was it even a room? It was more of a vacuum. He could… move his arm? The paralyzed one? And the pain was gone! Maybe hitting his head against the stair was actually _beneficial_. This made no sense, though. Where _was_ he? And God, it was dark.

He tried to stand up, but he seemed to be… not even lying on a surface? He was floating. He moved himself, trying to get into a vertical position. Instead, he just flipped repeatedly, as one would if they were to flip in space.

"STOP!" an unknown voice boomed, stopping Professor Membrane mid-flip. Luckily, it stopped him in the vertical position he was aiming for.

"Huh? Who are you?" Professor Membrane asked. Upon looking around, he noticed a white, milky light had filled the room. "Am I dead?"

The unknown voice chuckled. "Oh, Professor. I was hoping you were smarter than _that_. Oh well, my fault for having such high expectations. Then again, you are a very smart man. I suppose it wasn't so silly to expect more from you.

"Why does everyone always ask me this? 'Am I dead?' Everyone is always so surprised, too. Death is inevitable. One day it'll creep up on you, and before you know it, BAM! Your life will be torn out of you. Death isn't a big deal to someone like me."

"…So I _am_ dead?"

The voice gasped mockingly. "Dead? Goodness no! You wouldn't be any good if you were dead."

Professor Membrane blinked. Despite the light, he had no idea who the source of the voice was. "Any good?"

The voice scoffed. "Again, I was stupid for expecting more from one of the smartest humans on earth. Then again, you _are_ only human. It's funny how your species uses that excuse to justify a mistake. At least you realize how incompetent your species is–"

"Yeah yeah," Professor Membrane said, getting impatient. "I get it. You hate us. Now, tell me. What am I doing here and who are you?"

The voice, although slightly miffed at the fact that it was interrupted, continued. "I am one of the top soldiers of my planet, planet Zeenob. Don't bother asking me for my name; unlike your species, mine doesn't waste time with such trivial things such as naming our species. We are each encoded with a chip that stores our information at birth, so we have no need for names.

"Like many species in this galaxy, we want to invade as many planets as we can. There's only one problem: we can't. Unlike most things in the galaxy, we aren't made of atoms. What we _are_ made up of isn't compatible with planets where things are made of atoms, like yours. Therefore, we cannot exist in your planet. I'm not even going to bother trying to explain what we're made of. Just consider us being of a different dimension."

"I get the gist."

"I thought you would. Anyway, we have to use a portal of some sorts. So we take over the body of one member of the species that we want to invade, change its body chemistry, and voila. We've got ourselves a shell, more powerful than before. Those pains you feel are your body chemistry being changed. Your human structure is far too weak for us. Your right arm will soon be ours completely."

Professor Membrane bit his lip nervously. "But… why me?"

"Because," the creature explained impatiently. "It takes _years_ to invade the body of someone who isn't smart. It only takes months to invade the body of someone who is smart. You'd think its the other way around but…" it chuckled. "It's not."

Professor Membrane widened his eyes. "I'm a vessel for you?"

The creature chuckled. "Now you're getting it. Anyway, Professor, my work here is done with you. Goodbye, for now, though this isn't the last time we'll meet!"

Before Professor Membrane could reply, he shot his eyes open, returning to the world he knew.

He didn't know how the creature had found him, or how it possessed him or whatever.

But he did know this: He would die before the world was destroyed because of him.

That was a promise.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for not uploading this last week. I uploaded a desperate one-shot, Stormy Sky, last week. Anyway, here's this chapter! Sorry if it's short. **

Professor Membrane groaned.

In addition to the agonizing pain all over his body, he'd now developed a splitting headache. A metallic smell filled the air.

As his vision adjusted, he noticed Dib's worried face looming over him.

"DAD!" Dib yelled. Professor Membrane growled and used his good arm to cover the ear he could reach. When he removed his hand, he saw that it was covered in red. The professor gasped.

"Son! Am I bleeding?"

"Yeah! What should I do?! Should I call an ambulance?!"

"Ugh, lower your voice," Professor Membrane complained. "It's making the headache worse.

"Sorry," Dib whispered. "But seriously."

Professor Membrane shook his head. "No need for an ambulance; just get me some towels and ice."

Dib complied, immediately doing what his father told him to do. Professor Membrane grabbed the towels and tried to put them under his head, but he was to weak to do so. He whimpered in defeat while Dib helped him out. He grabbed the ice and put it on his head.

Suddenly, Gaz walked into the room.

"Dib!" She yelled. "You better not have taken my—" she stopped talking when she noticed her father bleeding into the towels.

She screamed and took a step back. "Dib! What happened to him?"

"I fell down the stairs," Professor Membrane said, a bit annoyed at the fact that Gaz had asked Dib when he was right there.

"We need to call an ambulance!" Gaz yelled, grabbing the phone.

"No!" Professor Membrane said, sitting up. He yelped in pain and laid back down.

"Yes! You're injured and we can't drive you!"

Professor Membrane wanted to protest more, but Gaz had already dialed and was frantically begging for an ambulance. He was too in pain to do anything else anyway. It was the logical thing to do, but again, he didn't want to be an experiment. He was perfectly capable of finding out what was happening to him without a doctor questioning him.

The ambulance didn't take long to arrive at his house. They loaded him onto a stretcher and Dib and Gaz followed nervously. Being moved around only made his headache worse, and the pains in his body weren't getting any better either. He groaned. There were paramedics there trying to stop the wound from bleeding, but it was bleeding quite profusely. He had a feeling he was going to become unconscious again. His vision was warped and his head swam. Dib scooted closer to him.

"Move back, please," one of the paramedics said. "We need to make sure he's alright until we get to the hospital."

Professor Membrane was a bit upset that Dib wasn't allowed to be near him, but he couldn't really say anything. He was trying not to pass out again.

Eventually, though, he did pass out (no strange dreams that time, though). When he woke up, he was at the hospital. Honestly, he was hardly even aware of what was going on. He kept swimming in and out of consciousness.

"Well, Professor," a doctor said. "You took quite the hit. You only needed 10 stitches on your head, so nothing too major happened. Just to be safe, though, we'll be keeping you here."

The doctor's expression grew more serious. "We also noticed that you've been hospitalized a lot lately. Three times in a month. For… pain and frequent fainting. The cause is unknown."

"And paralysis," Professor Membrane piped up. "My right arm is completely paralyzed."

The doctor frowned, jotting something down on his clipboard. "Well, Professor," he said. "We're going to run more tests on you later on. For now, just rest."

Professor Membrane watched the doctor leave the room. His eyes travelled down to the IV in his arm. Probably painkillers, since his head wasn't pounding like it was earlier. He sighed, reclining in the bed. What was going on? And… that dream he had… could it be that…

NO! It was a stupid dream. Aliens wouldn't _really_ be able to transmit a signal THROUGH him. It was a dumb dream, probably due to the hard hit on the head.

Suddenly, Dib poked his head into the room, followed closely by Gaz.

"Dad!" He said, trying not to raise his voice so much. "You're okay!"

Professor Membrane nodded solemnly. He looked down at himself. He hadn't been eating much, and he suspected he would be losing a lot of weight soon.

Dib tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"Just… a lot on my mind," Professor Membrane answered unconvincingly.

"Oh."

Professor Membrane sighed. "Son," he said, chuckling almost nervously. "Do you… oh, I don't know… think that some aliens have the ability to harness a human and use their bodies to take over Earth? I'm just wondering."

Dib's eyes lit up instantly. "WHOA! You actually want to hear about this stuff?" Dib smiled and pulled out a thick book, placing it on his father's lap. He then climbed onto the bed next to him and started flipping through the pages eagerly.

Dib nodded. "Apparently, according to this book! But it's very rare. The person has to truly be special to be invaded by an alien like that. I think all of us are pretty safe from anything like that."

Professor Membrane nodded, but immediately went pale. "Y-Yeah," he said.

Dib looked at him suspiciously. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Professor Membrane nodded, swallowing the urge to spill his guts to Dib about the aliens. Dib couldn't know. If he did, he would be involved, and the last thing Professor Membrane wanted was for his kids to be involved with whatever was going on. He didn't even _know_ if this was true. This could just be a bunch of paranoia. Plus, that book that Dib pulled out… surely all of it was pure pseudoscience.

But the more he thought about it, the slower time passed.


	5. Chapter 5

Professor Membrane found himself back in the dry desert again that night.

The sun was beating down hard, and he was in more pain than ever.

He took off the lab coat and let it fall to the sand. Sweat rolled down his face, and he stumbled forward. Breathing was hard now; the sun was truly, literally crippling.

Squinting through the brightness, he made his way forward. Again, he was being summoned forward by a seemingly invisible force.

Eventually, he couldn't walk forward anymore and he fell forward, the scorching hot sand burning his face. He groaned, trying to get up again, but his attempts to keep walking forward were futile. He just laid there in the sand, crying in the sand.

Professor Membrane turned his head and cringed when he caught sight of his arm. It was bright red, burned from the unforgiving sun.

A smell nearby made him gag. The smell of… rotting flesh? But from where? He was in a barren desert after all. Perhaps he was smelling his own…

Looking around, Professor Membrane noticed he was surrounded by decomposing bodies, which released a smell that ripened in the heat. Choking back bile, he propped himself up and with a practically superhuman burst of energy ran as far away as he can. He moaned in agony, looking for some source of water. There weren't even cacti to get water from nearby.

Just as Professor Membrane was about to give up hope, he saw something in the distance that gave him hope– his kids! They were quite a distance away, but there was no mistake it was them.

Gathering up every ounce of strength he had left in him, he sprinted towards them, but just as he got close enough that he could almost touch them, they ran away.

"Kids!" Professor Membrane called, chasing after them. They were always one step ahead though, and Professor Membrane lost footing and fell face-first in the sand. Sobbing and sputtering, he laid there knowing there was nothing to do.

"Dad?" Professor Membrane heard someone call. He didn't reply.

"DAD!" the voice called again, this time more frantic.

Professor Membrane sat up and looked around. Instead of being in that dry desert surrounded by corpses, he was in the safety of the hospital bed, with his son's worried face looming over him.

Professor Membrane, still half in a dream, looked at Dib sadly. "Why'd you run away?" he asked him.

Dib looked at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

Snapping out of it, Professor Membrane sat up. "Sorry," he muttered. "I had a strange dream."

Dib nodded, sighing in what sounded like relief. "We thought you were going to slip into a coma or… even worse… die!"

"Die?" Professor Membrane asked.

"Your temperature rose to a hundred eight," Dib explained. "It's a miracle your brain wasn't fried."

Professor Membrane stared. The dream… the desert dream… the heat felt so real…

Professor Membrane stared blankly, and Dib must've been concerned because he asked, "Dad? Are you alright?"

Professor Membrane snapped out of it. "Yeah… yeah. I just need to go to the bathroom," he said, getting up. As soon as his feet touched the floor, his legs gave way, and he fell.

He cringed, partially in pain, partially because of the thought of touching the dirty hospital floor. "Give me a hand," he begged, reaching out to Dib. Dib complied, grabbing his father's arm and pulling him up. Using the bars on the side of the hospital bed as a support, Professor Membrane pulled himself back into the bed.

"What happened?" Dib asked.

Professor Membrane's face fell in despair. "I… don't think I can walk anymore." To further test this, he tried getting up again. The same thing happened, except this time Dib was there to keep him from crumpling to the floor.

Dib frowned. "Well, I'll tell the doctors immediately! I'm sure they could get you a wheelchair or something."

"A wheelchair?" Professor Membrane asked. He began to raise his voice a bit. "That won't really help since you need both of your arms to operate a wheelchair!"

Guilt gripped his chest when he looked at his son's sad face. "Look," Professor Membrane said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm just upset about this whole ordeal. I don't like constantly being in pain and being half paralyzed."

Dib sighed. "It's fine, Dad. And maybe we can get you a wheelchair that you can operate with a joystick-control or something… I don't know. We'll figure something out."

Professor Membrane nodded, folding his hands quietly. It bothered him immensely that he didn't know what was wrong with him! He remembered the dream he had earlier that day, about the alien…

He almost wanted to slap himself. What was wrong with him? Of course it wasn't aliens. He had just developed some weird disease or something.

Or something…

Professor Membrane was more than ecstatic when he could go home. That week at the hospital was just test after test after test, all which came up negative. He chuckled to himself. If some alien was really changing his body chemistry, the hospital would've detected changing DNA by now. This thought soothed him a bit, and he leaned back in the wheel chair that the hospital had provided him.

Dib pushed Professor Membrane in the wheelchair, since he couldn't do it himself. He hated being this helpless, but there wasn't anything he could do.

For the past week, nothing happened. He would rest as much as he could, and he gave up on trying to do things for himself and accepted Dib's help. (Dib had to help the professor with almost everything, since the he was in constant pain and three out of his four limbs were paralyzed.)

However, a few days later, he got up extra early. As he was eating breakfast at the table, Dib walked downstairs.

"Dad?" Dib said. "What are you doing up this early?"

Professor Membrane smiled when he saw his son. "Son! I'm glad you're awake."

Dib nodded. "Yeah. I always have to go to school this early."

"Do you mind taking me to work? I know it's a lot to ask, but I can't do it without your help."

Dib chuckled. "No Dad. You're not going to work."

Professor Membrane frowned. "But son… I've missed enough work already."

"I thought you quit your job?"

"No!"

Dib blinked. "Dad, you can't go to work. You're not able to work anymore!"

"But–"

"Besides, you smell really bad, no offense… I mean, you haven't bathed in two weeks, so…"

Professor Membrane cringed. His son was right… he _did_ smell bad.

"Well, alright. I'll take a bath. Will you help me get upstairs?"

Dib nodded, taking the wheelchair and pushing it up a ramp (which Professor Membrane had installed, of course).

"I don't need help taking a bath," Professor Membrane said, certain of himself.

"Alright, Dad," Dib said, pushing him into the bathroom.

Professor Membrane ran the water and imagined how good a bath would feel. Hopefully the warmth of the water would alleviate the horrid pain he constantly felt.

Once the tub filled, he didn't hesitate to get in. It _did_ feel nice! The pain wasn't completely gone, but it helped a little bit.

He leaned back against the tub, sighing. He soon realized this was a bad idea because he couldn't get up. He kept slipping more and more until his head was almost underwater. Part of his back must've been paralyzed too, because he was unable to wriggle back up the tub.

"Son!" he yelled.

No reply.

"SON!" he yelled again, inhaling a bit of water.

"DIB!" he yelled. He inhaled more water and coughed.

Dib threw open the door, staring at his father.

"I'm drowning!" Professor Membrane said, staring at Dib rather pathetically.

"I can see that," Dib replied, though he didn't necessarily say it with annoyance or malice.

Dib grabbed the professor's arms and pulled him upright. Professor Membrane grimaced; that did not feel good on his aching body.

"You okay?" Dib asked when he saw his father's expression.

Professor Membrane nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm hurting your arms, aren't I?" Dib asked.

Professor Membrane shrugged. "Sort of," he admitted. "Just pull me onto the wheelchair."

Dib obliged, handing his father a towel too. Professor Membrane wrapped it around himself. "Wait," Professor Membrane said. "What about school? Aren't you late?"

Dib nodded. "I already called though, so they know. Told them you needed help with something. Let's face it, Dad. I knew you were gonna be consumed by your own pride and almost drown yourself."

Professor Membrane was about to retort, but decided he'd already spent most of his energy almost drowning. He grunted in reply, which was a satisfactory reply for him at the moment.

After getting dressed in his usual attire (which was _extremely_ hard to do with only one usable limb), he called Dib in to the room.

"Son, can you take me to work now?" he said.

Dib chuckled. "Dad, you aren't going to work today. Not in your current state."

"What?" Professor Membrane demanded. "I took a bath like you asked me to!"

Dib nodded. "Yes, and I thank you for that, but c'mon Dad. You can't go to work with this… I don't even know what it is. Disease? Condition?"

Professor Membrane sighed. "Fine, you're right."

Dib pushed Professor Membrane into his room and Professor Membrane crawled on his bed with the help of Dib.

Dib looked at him very seriously. "I'm

taking a cell phone. Call me if there's an emergency. I don't care if I'm at school."

Dib waved one last time and left. Professor Membrane laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Dib was acting like an adult… maybe the boy _wasn't_ insane after all.

This thought warmed his heart, and he dozed off with a smile on his face despite the stress he'd been feeling lately.

**Hey guys! Sorry that I didn't upload this sooner. Last week I was sick, so I worked on this chapter this week.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yooo! Sorry I haven't been updating lately. Less motivation to write ^^' …That being said, I'm probably going to wrap up this story soon; probably in the next couple of chapters. I don't want to continue this story and watch it become horrible… :/ So yeah.**

**ALSO, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, PLEASE READ MY BIO. My bio lists some topics that may be triggering to some. That is, most of my stories will contain at least one of these topics. You see, if I put these TWs directly in my story, they may spoil it. So yes, if you are heavily triggered by anything in my bio, please consider not reading my stories. Sorry for the long A/N.**

Over the last three months, Professor Membrane's health decreased, but less dramatically than before. He had lost quite a bit of weight— almost fifty pounds— as he was hardly eating. He definitely was not eating three meals a day (more like half a meal) because the stress killed his appetite. He sighed. When? When would this nightmare end? Would he die? And if so, when would he die? Probably soon. He barely ate anything, was half paralyzed, and could hardly walk (he _could_ walk, but not without effort and a lot of pain, so he barely did so).

His thoughts were interrupted by Dib coming into his room.

"Hey," Dib said, walking up to him.

"Hey," Professor Membrane echoed.

"I brought you some food."

"I'm not hungry."

Professor Membrane observed the boy's face falling. "But Dad! You didn't eat at all yesterday. C'mon… I don't want you to die!"

Professor Membrane ran his finger over the bed sheet, absentmindedly tracing the pattern on it. "I won't die," Professor Membrane said. "I'm just not hungry. I never really am. Must be a side effect of the pain medication." _Or the fact that I'm stressed every waking moment of my life. _

Dib sighed, placing the plate on the nightstand. "You look really bad," he said.

"Thanks," Professor Membrane replied coldly and sarcastically. "I feel great too, as you could imagine."

But Dib was right. He probably did look really bad. He didn't bathe much—it was a hassle to do so—and he let his hair grow out quite a bit. The areas of his head that had no hair were covered with short hair that stuck out in various directions, and the one zig-zag shaped area had now grown down his back (most of the time it was in his face, though). In addition, he hardly ever shaved, and almost always made Dib do it for him. However, Dib almost always slipped and accidentally ended up cutting his face, so he just… _didn't_.

"Sorry for the sarcasm," Professor Membrane said. "I know I look terrible."

Dib shook his head. "I would too if I were in your condition."

Professor Membrane went to reply, but he let out a raspy cough instead. Great. Whatever was killing his body was doing it to his organs too. Well, the quicker whatever was in him killed him, the less he would have to suffer. A grim thought, but it was true.

"You okay?" Dib asked.

_No, I'm dying._ "Yes son, I'm fine," Professor Membrane answered almost curtly.

"Really though, you should eat," Dib said.

Professor Membrane grumbled and quickly ate about half the plate of food. He put it back on the nightstand and coughed more. This… was the most agonizing thing ever. It was as if his entire chest was ablaze on the inside. He groaned, but could not stop himself. Once it somewhat subsided, he found that he was hardly able to breathe.

"Dad! Uhh… should I call an ambulance?" Dib asked worriedly.

"No," Professor Membrane replied. "Don't call them anymore. They won't be able to help anyway." Professor Membrane coughed again, and tears streamed down his face— partially from pain, partially from sadness. He couldn't let his son know how sad he was about this. At least he could blame it on his coughing.

Dib scooted closer a bit nervously. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean… I've never heard you cough like this…" He inspected his father's sickly face. "I've never heard anyone cough like this."

Professor Membrane nodded. "Yes son, I'm fine." His lungs burned with every exhalation.

"Okay…" Dib said, unconvinced.

"Go now, son, and sleep," Professor Membrane said. "You have school tomorrow."

Dib sighed. "Fine. But if you get any worse I'm staying home."

Professor Membrane sighed, then flinched at the pain of his lungs.

Sleep came easily that night to Professor Membrane. In his dreams, he was back in that dark void… the same void that he had met the nameless voice in before. Only this time no light was seen. He was completely engulfed in the darkness. And it was so hot! He didn't remember it being that hot before.

"Ah, Professor!" the voice chucked.

Professor Membrane crossed his arms. Same as before, he could move his arm and the pain was gone.

"I see you've noticed our little modifications."

Professor Membrane still didn't answer, choosing instead to stare off into the darkness.

"I can't believe you can't just… accept reality! You still have a bit of doubt about what's going on, hmm? You think that these are all just crazy dreams and that whatever is happening is some common human ailment. Funny how sometimes smart people make excuses for things they can't explain instead of investigating them. Well, it's funny to me at least."

Professor Membrane scowled. "What do you even want from this planet?" he asked.

"I want the planet," he said. "I just simply want it. I want to repopulate the planet with my species' offspring."

"Why can't doctors and nurses detect the changes in my body chemistry?" Professor Membrane asked, changing the subject.

"Because the changes are too gradual," the voice replied. "I'm not here to be questioned by you. I suppose I just wanted to catch up!"

Professor Membrane could practically hear the smirk on its face.

"Well, I have to go now! It was nice chatting with you, professor." The voice chuckled and Professor Membrane woke with a start, back in his own bed. The sheets were drenched with sweat and he was shivering like mad. He coughed again, the pain in his lungs worse than it had ever been. He couldn't control it anymore, and he couldn't even take a breath between coughs at that moment.

He saw a silhouette at the doorway of his room and jumped back, bumping against the bed frame.

"Dad?" The silhouette said. Oh, good. It was just his son. He relaxed, relieved.

Professor Membrane's reply got fought in his throat, and he coughed violently.

Dib walked over to his dad. "You okay?" He asked, turning on the lights. Professor Membrane squinted.

"You're all covered in sweat," Dib said, feeling Professor Membrane's forehead. "And you have a fever." Dib took a thermometer out of his pocket—why did he have a thermometer in his pocket?—and took the professor's temperature. He gasped.

When Professor Membrane regained the ability to speak, he asked, "what is it?"

"Your temperature! It's like… a hundred and seven degrees!"

"It's what?"

"Come on, we gotta go to the hospital!"

Professor Membrane panicked. No, no! He couldn't go back! "No!" Professor Membrane said.

"Yes!" Dib retorted. "We need to go now! You may die if we don't!"

Professor Membrane shook his head.

"Come on, stay here and I'll call nine-one-one!"

Professor Membrane jumped out of bed, grunting in pain, and ran out. He stumbled, but refused to fall over. He knew that if he fell, he probably wouldn't be able to get back on his feet.

"Dad, come on!" Dib said, running after him. Professor Membrane looked over his shoulder at his son, and braced himself. He ran down the stairs but fell midway. He screamed but got back up, making his way down the rest of the stairs.

Dib ran down after him. Of course, Dib was faster, so he caught up to him. Professor Membrane tried to run again, but his legs hurt too much and he coughed so hard that blood dribbled from his mouth. Dib was almost sobbing now. "Come on, Dad," he said gently. He lead Professor Membrane to the couch and sat him down. "I don't care what you say. We need to call the ambulance."

Professor Membrane didn't reply. Every breath hurt him.

"Now, let me call the ambulance," Dib said.

Professor Membrane didn't say anything. Instead, he spat a glob of blood onto his pajamas. He repeated this action after coughing again.

Dib frowned and got a towel. "Clean yourself up a bit," he said, dialing an ambulance. Professor Membrane coughed even more blood onto the towel. It was almost a worrisome amount of blood, in fact, and when Dib hung up the phone he was almost frantic at the sight of his father. Professor Membrane folded the towel so Dib wouldn't have to see the blood, but when he coughed again, blood soaked through it.

The ambulance arrived fast, as expected. Professor Membrane dropped the towel onto the floor, and Dib woke up Gaz.

Professor Membrane coughed again, accidentally getting blood on a paramedic who was helping him onto a stretcher. Dib covered Gaz's eyes, and Gaz pried his hand off of her face, crushing it hard as she did so.

Once they got to the hospital, a doctor put his hand on Professor Membrane's shoulder. "Professor, you will be here for quite a while. In fact, we will be keeping you permanently until your condition improves."

Professor Membrane's eyes widened. "No. No! I'll be fine, trust me! I'm going to get better. I don't need to stay he—"

Professor Membrane coughed again, and he began to cry as he did so. Blood poured out of his mouth and onto the hospital gown, and Dib's face turned pale. A nurse lead him Dib and Gaz out of the room.

A mask was applied to his face. Professor Membrane didn't care how, but he had to get out of here. The problem was that he was tired, weak, and bleeding from the inside.

And most likely close to imminent death.


	7. Chapter 7

Professor Membrane was woken by his son gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Hey, Dad," Dib said gently. "Feeling okay?"

Professor Membrane tried to speak, but his throat was so raw from coughing so much that he wasn't exactly sure if he even could. He let out a small groan. He coughed again, spitting blood into a bucket by his bedside. The blood, having begun to coagulate, was thick, and he choked on it as it came out of his lungs.

"Yes, Son, much better," Professor Membrane said sarcastically.

Dib cringed and hugged Professor Membrane, his face growing sad.

A doctor walked in the room. Professor Membrane looked down. Whenever he looked at the doctors in their white coats, he felt a twinge of envy. It reminded him of his old job as a scientist, which he could no longer do anymore. The aliens had robbed him from everything, and he really felt the consequences.

Dib stepped aside as the doctor walked towards his father.

"Well, Professor," the doctor said.

"What?"

"We have some concerning news. We think that your lungs are deteriorating. We'll have to preform an endoscopy tonight to get a resounding yes or no on that."

Professor Membrane nodded. He really didn't want a small camera shoved into his lungs so late at night, but whatever. He couldn't really protest.

The procedure didn't last long, of course. When he woke up, the doctor was already in the room, going over some papers.

"Professor…?" the doctor said, his expression serious.

Professor Membrane coughed in response. Which… was a bad idea. He had an uncontrollable coughing fit then, stopping only to inhale. Blood was all over his hand, since he had tried to cover it the best he could. He stopped and wheezed, floating in and out of consciousness.

Multiple nurses ran in, putting a mask over his face as before and cleaning the blood off of him afterwards.

At this point, Professor Membrane was so weak he could hardly keep his eyes open.

After a while, the doctor spoke.

"Professor, we are going to have to preform surgery as soon as possible to fix your lungs. Are you okay with that?"

Professor Membrane made a gurgling sound somewhere in his throat.

"Just… hold up one finger if it's alright, and two if it's not alright. We need your consent before doing this procedure."

Professor Membrane held up one finger, though he shook so hard that he wondered if the doctor could even see it.

"Thank you, Professor," the doctor said, walking out of the room.

Once the doctor was out, Professor Membrane sat up with a display of superhuman strength. He had to end this. He had to do it for his own good.

Yes, these aliens had robbed him of everything: his job, his health, his appetite, his cognitive abilities, his life.

But one was for sure: these aliens would never rob other people on this planet of that.

He took off the medical equipment and got up, walking for the first time in a month. He big his tongue to keep from screaming—the pain was excruciating. He worked the window open with his good arm. Luckily he was low enough near the ground to jump out unharmed. So he did. It didn't stop the worst pain imaginable to wrack his body once he hit the floor, though.

Oh well. Chin up. This will all be over soon.

Barely oriented, Professor Membrane made his way through the quiet cool night. He walked until he reached his beloved lab; the place that he had worked so hard in for so many years. He pressed his head against its cement walls, staining it with his tears.

No.

He had to be brave.

He walked the outskirts of the building until he reached a ladder. His entire body was screaming for him to stop. But he didn't. The pain became so extreme that he gagged, but nothing came out but a few drops of blood, which stained his fresh hospital gown or fell onto the rungs.

Gasping, he hoisted himself onto the roof of the lab. The night felt so cool and crisp… he was going to miss nights like this. Clear nights where you could see the stars.

He gagged again, and more blood came out, this time in a bigger quantity. Stars appeared in his vision, but they were different than the night sky ones. He smiled. It's okay. He only had to suffer a bit longer. Soon, this would all be over.

More tears rolled down his face, leaving streaks in the blood on his face. Life truly was amazing, and this is why he had to do what he was going to do.

He took a deep breath.

"Membrane Labs, you have continued so much to this society," he whispered.

"You have helped mankind in so many ways. Too many ways to count." Professor Membrane wiped the junk—snot, blood, and tears— off of his face.

"And now, we contribute one more time."

Professor Membrane started running to the edge. It burned, and blood streamed out of his mouth. His lungs were on fire, and so was his flesh. But he was okay with that. For once in several months, he was okay with that.

Once he got to the edge, he jumped, and he was weightless for a second—

"STOOOOOP!" A voice yelled. Before Professor Membrane knew it, he was yanked back full force by the back of the hospital gown.

He landed back on the ceiling with a thunk. His landing was hard, and he moaned in agony. But it was softer than expected.

Dib crawled out from under him, blood covering his shirt.

"S-Son…? Why are you bleeding? Are you hurt?" Professor Membrane asked weakly.

Dib stood above Professor Membrane with a combination of hysterical sadness and anger.

"It's your blood, Dad!" Dib yelled back, tears streaming down his face. "I can't believe you would do this! Just leave this all behind! You're probably going to die soon and you wanna speed it up?!"

Professor Membrane sobbed, partially in pain, partially because his heart was shattered.

"Son, it's too hard to explain—"

"Explain what? How much you hate me? Why would you do this? I can't believe—"

"SON, THERE ARE ALIENS USING ME AS A VESSEL AND THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE OVER THIS WHOLE PLANET. I'm doing what's best for society, so why won't you just let me die already?!"

Dib stood, visibly shaking. "Dad… I-I didn't know…"

Professor Membrane turned over coldly.

Dib stared. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?! I can help you! I have extensive knowledge on the paranormal!"

Professor Membrane sat up, although the pain was unbearable. "YOU CAN?!"

"Of course!"

Professor Membrane smiled. "I'm sorry, son! You're not insane! You're… the most sane person I know…" he said between sobs.

Dib ran over and gave his father a huge hug. Finally… they were bonding!

Their moment of father-son bonded ended instantaneously when helicopters were seen and heard overhead.

"I recognize the hospital's logo," Professor Membrane said. "They want to take me back."

Dib nodded. "It's alright. Once we're there, I'll think of a plan. You need to give me additional information though, so I can help you out."

Professor Membrane nodded.

Then he smiled.

Because for once in several months, everything was going to be okay. And this time, he didn't have to die.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: SORRY SORRY SORRY OMGGG. I've had no motivation to write and I've been super busy :( School doesn't let out until the 19th. **

Professor Membrane woke up the next morning dazed and confused.

Had a car hit him?

His body throbbed. He tried to groan, but a mask was blocking his face and he didn't have enough lung power to produce any sounds.

"Dad," Dib whispered, grabbing Professor Membrane's hand. Professor Membrane looked at his son, dazed and confused. "You were really out of it last night, but you seem better right now—"

Dib was interrupted by a man possessing a smile and voice too cheery for the tired professor.

"Hello, professor," the man said. "We performed the surgery and it went well!" The man's patronizing grin grew wider, and Professor Membrane would've probably punched him if he wasn't so exhausted. "You were pretty dazed last night! You sort of collapsed after you returned from… your leave? We aren't sure why you left, and we're concerned for your safety."

The man put his hand on the professor's shoulder, and Professor Membrane glared at him with all he had. The man didn't get the memo, though, and kept right on talking.

"We're going to keep you where until we're… sure you can take care of yourself when you leave, both physically and mentally."

Professor Membrane glared. They thought he'd lost his mind. No! He was suffering here!

Professor Membrane coughed and placed his hand on his chest, surprised. He hadn't expected it to be so painful.

"Pain after the surgery is normal," the man said. "Just rest up. I'll check on you soon, Professor!"

The man left, and Professor Membrane relaxed, that is until another fit of coughing wracked his body with pain. He cringed; his breath in the mask smelled like blood.

"Dad, can you speak to me?" Dib asked, still holding his father's hand.

But Professor Membrane found that he couldn't. The mask kept him from doing so, and he didn't have enough lung power anyway. He hardly had enough energy to speak.

_Why? Why did I ever deny you, Son? Why did I deny you when you told me that aliens were real? I'm probably going to die now, and it is my fault. It is all my fault. _

Professor Membrane began to cry. Every sob made his lungs hurt, but he couldn't control himself.

"No, no, Dad! Please don't cry!" Dib gave his father's hand a small squeeze. He took a tissue from the little table next to the bed and wiped Professor Membrane's eyes with it.

Professor Membrane's heart melted. His son was so selfless, and yet he himself was not. Why? Why did he have to be so cruel? Maybe it would have been better if he had died.

Dib put the tissue aside and crawled onto the hospital bed and laid next to his dad, hugging him. Professor Membrane brought his arm up to a button next to the hospital bed. Liquid flowed through an IV into his arm. After a while, the liquid stopped flowing even though Professor Membrane was still pressing the button.

"Whoa, Dad. Your pupils are very dilated," Dib said. Professor Membrane made a sniffling noise in response, and he pressed the button more rapidly, even though it didn't do anything. He brought his arm back and closed his eyes, but he wasn't in peace. His facial expression was pained, in fact.

"You okay, Dad?" Dib said with confusion and concern. Professor Membrane didn't reply, but shook his head.

"You want me to get the doctors?"

Professor Membrane took a deep breath. "I want you, TO GET THE ALIEN OUT OF ME!" He gripped his chest in pain and began to scream. Immediately, doctors flooded the room. Professor Membrane barely had time to look at their faces before passing out.

He woke up at around sunset. How long had he been out, anyway?

He noticed Dib next to him. "Hey, son…" he croaked. Whew, he could talk again.

"Hey Dad," Dib said crawling up to him. "How are you feeling?"

Professor Membrane looked up at the ceiling for a second. "Dizzy. Also, I really have to pee," he said with a chuckle. "Wait here." He unplugged the IVs, too medicated to know what he was doing. He took off the mask and stumbled out of the bed.

"Dad, wait!" Dib said. Professor Membrane opened the door to the hallway and walked down the halls, looking for the bathroom and laughing a little. Dib ran after him. Professor Membrane walked down the hallways, acting as if this was his first time seeing windows or other people. He opened the door to the women's bathroom and almost walked into it, until Dib yanked on his gown and Professor Membrane turned around with a wobbly smile on his face. "What, son?" he asked.

"You can't go in there!" he asked, embarrassed about his father's actions. "You have to go in here!" He shoved Professor Membrane into the men's bathroom. Professor Membrane looked like he was about to pass out, so Dib shoved him into a stall. "Dad, it was a bad idea to remove the oxygen mask!" Dib hissed furiously.

"Okay," Professor Membrane said, not understanding what Dib was saying. Dib realized his father was acting a lot like a drunk man when he peed on the floor in front of the toilet and then stumbled out, collapsing in the hallway. Dib tried to help his father up but doctors were already getting onto that. Dib sighed in relief. He didn't want to help his dad anymore at the moment.

"What happened to him?" Someone asked.

Dib took a deep breath. "He's loopy," Dib said. The doctors stared at him, and Dib rolled his eyes. "He's really sick. Just take him back to the room."

The doctors nodded and got Professor Membrane hooked up to his proper medicines. Dib looked at the various IV bags, full of pretty colored liquids. He rubbed his chin and smirked. He was formulating a plan, and he would carry it out soon.


End file.
